ST. PAUL - State Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, announces the Legislature recently approved $2 million to help mitigate flooding problems in the city of Beardsley.
The funding is a grant to the city of Beardsley to remove and replace or to repair a portion of drain line in the gravity pipe system designed to remove excess water from Dry Lake and prevent flooding. Anderson and Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Alexandria, carried legislation to fund the project which, according to the bill language, the city must undertake in coordination with the Upper Minnesota River Watershed District.
"Quick springtime melt can fill Dry Lake and impact the town, flooding basements and causing other issues," Anderson said. "The cost of this much-needed work was prohibitive for the 200 or so people of Beardsley to absorb on their own, so I am glad we were able to deliver this funding."
Beardsley Mayor Kayla Holtz said it is comforting for people in the city to see this funding delivered.
"As a city, we are ecstatic to be awarded funding for the Dry Lake project," Holtz said. "Although it will not cover the entire cost, the funding that was awarded is a huge relief to the citizens of Beardsley with peace of mind moving forward. We have been in constant contact with the Upper Minnesota Watershed throughout the process and we both feel this is a huge leap in the right direction to help fix this project and move forward for years to come. None of this would have been possible without the push from our local Rep. Paul Anderson and Sen. Torrey Westrom and we can not thank them, and all the leaders that voted to push this through."
The Minnesota House and Senate both approved a $2.6 billion package to fund infrastructure projects around the state on May 22, just hours before the 2023 session adjourned. The package is a mixture of general obligation bonds and cash from the state's $17.5 billion surplus. The Beardsley project is funded via bonding.
In total, the larger of the bills (H.F. 669) includes $1.3 billion from the proceeds of general obligation bonds, $219 million from the Transportation Fund and nearly $225 million from the General Fund. A second cash bill (H.F. 670) provides $850.7 million in General Fund spending.
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